The penalty was offset by a blatant holding penalty by the Bears, who had defensive end Jared Allen around the neck.

Although the hit to Cutler’s head was arguably unavoidable, since he was falling as Griffen closed in, Griffen still led with his helmet. Defenseless players, including quarterbacks while throwing a pass, can’t be hit in the helmet or with a helmet.

Cutler, who appeared to be shaken up, wasn’t removed from the game for a concussion test. He arguably should have been.

UPDATE 3:55 p.m. ET: Cutler has left the game. He apparently received a concussion test. After the drive ended.

Cutler again will get beat up for this game, but once again he has Brandon Marshall and no one else. 2 easy touchdowns dropped, 3 drops by the worst tight end in the league Kellen Davis (plus one were he jumped about an inch and half off the ground attempting to make a catch), one int. where his receiver slipped, and once again he’s spent most of the day running for his life.

Doesn’t deserve a fine. And Cutler sucked today. 2 int’s, and a third dropped, and several tipped passes that lucky floated to the ground. There is no way the Bears win 3 playoff games to be SB champs. I have them marked down as this years one and done, taking the Falcons spot.

Bears should have been called for offensive pass interference time after time. NFL needs to get that crew up to speed. Crew in the Giants game knew what they were doing.

purpleguy says:Dec 9, 2012 11:10 PM

No way was that a finable hit. That’s no more finable than Greenway saying tounge-in-cheek that fans should get drunk for the game. Do you have a hook in NFL charities or something Mike? Shouldn’t even have been flagged. Allen should get fined again for his out of bounds hit — not Griffen.

It deserves a suspension as does Jared Allen’s personal foul for late hit out of bounds.

Just because the vikings are never on national television doesn’t mean they should be allowed to continue with all the cheap shots or have less in fines because few people see them.

seals1 says:Dec 10, 2012 10:01 AM

That call was terrible but Griffen comes in high almost every hit he makes. It’s his style and he can’t break himself of it. He is making plays so I want to see him stay on the field.

As for the Refs,,,,,,,,,,,my lord Brandon Marshall can play football but he pushes off on every play. Let’s see him get flagged once.

bfcerdo says:Dec 10, 2012 10:52 AM

“It deserves a suspension as does Jared Allen’s personal foul for late hit out of bounds. ” … Huh? Jared Allen’s personal foul for late hit out of bounds wasn’t late nor out of bounds. That was a terrible call.

If players don’t want to get rocked, they should stop trying to get every last inch while still in bounds…

“If players don’t want to get rocked, they should stop trying to get every last inch while still in bounds…”

I agree. Some players make it seem like they’ll keep going in bounds then step out at the last second on purpose. Kind of like those QBs who slide at the very last second and expect a flag for getting hit. If you don’t make it obvious that you’re going out of bounds then I’d say expect to get hit without a flag.

I don’t like calls like that, or a fine. Yes, it was helmet to helmet, but Griffen was coming off a block and didn’t have full control of himself, while Cutler was falling down as Griffen came in for the hit. There really wasn’t much Griffen could do to prevent that helmet-to-helmet hit, and that should come into the equation.

Strict enforcement of the helmet to helmet contact as a penalty during the game, I understand. A fine? There has to be either intent or just bad habits for a fine. Griffen wasn’t aiming high or leading with the helmet. The QB fell into his helmet…

As for all these jack holes trashing Jared Allen…stay jealous. Replay showed he hit the ball carrier while he was still in play.